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Boy falls into movie set at Franklin Park Zoo

E-mail|Link|Comments () September 2, 2009 05:37 PM

By Milton Valencia and Maria Cramer, Globe Staff

The lion's den was fake, but his injuries were real. A 16-year-old boy suffered minor injuries today when he fell while trying climb into the set for "The Zookeeper," a film starring Kevin James that is being shot at the Franklin Park Zoo, a zoo spokeswoman said this afternoon.

James as Paul Blart

The boy fell into the moat surrounding a former gorilla enclosure that had been redecorated as a lion's den for the movie, said Justine Griffin. No lions were in the enclosure, she said.

The boy, who was not identified, fell about 15 feet, said Boston Police spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll.

Jennifer Mehigan, a spokeswoman for Boston EMS, said that it appeared that a net had broken the boy's fall, which was reported at about 3:30 p.m.

The boy's injuries appeared minor, she said, but due to the possibility of head or neck injuries, he was immobilized on a stretcher and then transported to Boston Medical Center.

The movie will star Rosario Dawson and James, who plays a lonely zookeeper who gets tips from the animals on how to win back the woman who broke his heart. James recently starred in "Paul Blart: Mall Cop," which was also filmed in Massachusetts, at the Burlington Mall.